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Shocking news: Moderately obese people die up to three years prematurely

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Madness

Member
3 years prematurely, but decades of being somewhat unhappy, struggling with self esteem, confidence, depression, not being able to participate in outdoor activities, having knee, joint, back problems, possible diabetes etc. I think the nature of our short sighted society makes people not think of things long term. You may not care at 24 when you are scarfing a bag of Doritos and guzzling 2 litres of pop and then polishing off a large pizza. But maybe at 44 you will feel different and may regret it all.

Losing weight was the best thing I ever did in my life. I couldn't imagine spending the next 20 or 30 years being fat and then dying a premature death. This is the only life we'll get in the universe, make the most of it.
 
3 years prematurely, but decades of being somewhat unhappy, struggling with self esteem, confidence, depression, not being able to participate in outdoor activities, having knee, joint, back problems, possible diabetes etc. I think the nature of our short sighted society makes people not think of things long term. You may not care at 24 when you are scarfing a bag of Doritos and guzzling 2 litres of pop and then polishing off a large pizza. But maybe at 44 you will feel different and may regret it all.

Losing weight was the best thing I ever did in my life. I couldn't imagine spending the next 20 or 30 years being fat and then dying a premature death. This is the only life we'll get in the universe, make the most of it.

Exactly. Quality of life is key.
 

Dennis

Banned
A bigger issue than the 3 years might be the reduction in quality of life throughout the whole lifespan.

Healthcare issues etc.
 
Being obese sucks. I lost over 50 pounds, and I still have a lot more to lose. But I have noticed a significant improvement in my quality of life. Everything is so much easier. So. Much. Easier. It's hard to describe, it's like having an extra boost of energy.. that doesn't go away.

At 31 years old I have more energy and I'm more physically fit than I was at 22.

Healthy lifestyle is worth it, even if it's "only" 3 years extra. Your life will be so much easier than if you were obese.
 

Cheech

Member
I wonder what type of life expectancy reductions people who were obese but then lose the weight and keep it off get. I've always been curious if that sort of trend is totally reversible, or if obese people sort of did the damage and there remains a cost in life expectancy. I used to be quite fat, so it's something I worry about now that I have my own family starting up.

I think it depends on the amount of exercise you do. If you take up serious cardio and keep at it 4-5 times a week, your body will actually generate new blood vessels for your heart to get around all those arteries you've clogged up. Basically nature's bypass.

Being sedentary post-fat is the real killer, because your body isn't going unwind all that damage by itself without you pushing it to heal.

I was fat as shit at one point in my life; well over 300 lbs. Today, I'm below 200 and just ran a 5k in well under 25 minutes (don't want to give the exact number, internet sleuths). My quality of life is incredible now compared to what it used to be, and that's the hardest thing to communicate with people who are fat, depressed, and don't want to do anything as a result. It's a very vicious cycle.

Also, can't recommend MyFitnessPal or similar food diaries enough. Anyone can lose weight, and I do mean anyone just adhering to the calories it tells you you should be taking in.

I guess if I had one comment to make: it's not about longevity, it's about quality of life. Does anyone really want to deal with diabetes, losing limbs, and mobility scooters in their 40s through whenever they stroke out, get cancer, or their heart seizes?

That's nice advice about moderation and whatnot, but there is an old saying that is still relevant today, "once you pop you can't stop"

Feel that way about cigarettes and alcohol as well? Overeating garbage food is in that same category, and the effects on you and those around you are just as devastating.
 

j0hnnix

Gold Member
I'm good with those eating fast foods/not exercising and going out early keeps Jan/Feb months clear at the gym.
 
latest
07072011-214271-wendys-son-of-baconator-beauty-shot-1.jpg

Hmmmm Baconators.
 

Breads

Banned
Eat fastfood all my life, live up to 63.
Eat crappy healthy food all my life, live up to 66.

What's the point of living another three years in my sixties.

Maybe you don't want to have a heart attack when you're 36, a stroke when you're 40, and lose your legs/ eyesight when you're 50.
 

Nudull

Banned
People it's not just losing 3 years of life, its all the other pathologies you're gonna be dealing with throughout your life, a terrible quality overall, being a burden towards the economy/healthcare system, missing out on doing many things etc.

Because what better way to promote healthy eating than to emphasize how the obese are a burden on society, like subhumans! :D
 
Do people seriously think that (Cheeeeburgers-every-meal+Obese) and (only-eating-salads-and-kale+Fit) are the only two options? I am seeing a lot of that logic on here.
 

Neo C.

Member
Three years are less than I expected, but still quite a lot.

IIRC, if we can cure every kind of cancer, the life expectancy for all would "only" increase by 3 years.
 
I think the people thinking that 3 years isn't very much aren't really taking the "moderately" prefix into consideration. Eating too much over time will put you way above that mark, and there is quite a big range between moderately obese and "Wallmart scooter"-obese.
 

Arials

Member
I think the people thinking that 3 years isn't very much aren't really taking the "moderately" prefix into consideration.

This seems to be a paper about the same long term study published 7 years ago:

The Oxford University research found that moderate obesity, which is now common, reduces life expectancy by about 3 years, and that severe obesity, which is still uncommon, can shorten a person’s life by 10 years. This 10 year loss is equal to the effects of lifelong smoking.

Here's a paper about the prevalence of severe obesity. And here's one about obesity reducing quality of life. The study in that second link is quite dense, but the graphs near the bottom are pretty clear.
 

Laekon

Member
I think this just shows how good we've become at keeping people alive. While bad shit can happen to everyone I think there is a big difference in quality of life based on life long habits. I'm in the process of switching to the medical field and have been doing clinical rotations at a hospital for awhile. Seeing people in their late 50's early 60's with a long list of medications and unable to do basic things like walk a mile is really sad. The daily double cheeseburger or hard nights of drinking can be replaced by a 3 times a day dose of 300mL of lactulose up your ass by a not so friendly nurse.
 

Cheech

Member
I think this just shows how good we've become at keeping people alive. While bad shit can happen to everyone I think there is a big difference in quality of life based on life long habits. I'm in the process of switching to the medical field and have been doing clinical rotations at a hospital for awhile. Seeing people in their late 50's early 60's with a long list of medications and unable to do basic things like walk a mile is really sad. The daily double cheeseburger or hard nights of drinking can be replaced by a 3 times a day dose of 300mL of lactulose up your ass by a not so friendly nurse.

That is what makes me grit my teeth, reading through this thread. GAF skews young, and people are short sighted about most things, but this is a hell of a thing to blow off in your teens and 20s. Sure, you can treat your body like a dumpster when you're 26 and feel AWESOME. When you're 46? 56? When it hurts to even get up and move because you're 50+ lbs overweight? Those bacon double cheeseburgers that made you so god damn fat don't sound so delicious anymore.
 

Kaako

Felium Defensor
You mean to tell me I did all this damn work to get out of moderate obesity just to gain only 3 damn years back? Fuuuuck this man, I want my refund.
Juuuust kidding
 

Lamel

Banned
Because what better way to promote healthy eating than to emphasize how the obese are a burden on society, like subhumans! :D

Take a step back; the negative economic impact of having a significant obese population is well documented, as is the impact on healthcare services. Never have I claimed that obese individuals are subhuman.
 
Because what better way to promote healthy eating than to emphasize how the obese are a burden on society, like subhumans! :D

They are a burden, a huge one

We as a society need to get over the fear of fat shaming and realize it's OK to criticize. It's not OK to be obese, and the acceptance movement is just going to make things worse

There is a reason obesity is called an epidemic in America
 
If we're to take the obesity problem seriously we would have to start by dismantling the economic system built around making people fatter and then selling them BS healthy food and diets. But that would take a lot of money from a lot of people's pockets.
 

Xe4

Banned
3 years is not much, but an entire life of medical problems is

3 years prematurely, but decades of being somewhat unhappy, struggling with self esteem, confidence, depression, not being able to participate in outdoor activities, having knee, joint, back problems, possible diabetes etc. I think the nature of our short sighted society makes people not think of things long term. You may not care at 24 when you are scarfing a bag of Doritos and guzzling 2 litres of pop and then polishing off a large pizza. But maybe at 44 you will feel different and may regret it all.

Losing weight was the best thing I ever did in my life. I couldn't imagine spending the next 20 or 30 years being fat and then dying a premature death. This is the only life we'll get in the universe, make the most of it.

Both of these. It's not about length of life, people, it's about quality of life. People who live healthier lives are happier on the aggregate, and they spend less money on medical costs.

Living with the problems of obesity is not fun, and is something that should try to be avoided. Not to say it's easy, cause it's definitely not, but living around the same ammount of time is not an excuse to be unhealthy.
 

Cheech

Member
If we're to take the obesity problem seriously we would have to start by dismantling the economic system built around making people fatter and then selling them BS healthy food and diets. But that would take a lot of money from a lot of people's pockets.

This is just an excuse. Ultimately, we as consumers are responsible for what we eat. Nobody is force feeding anybody; portion control and the quality of food that goes into your mouth is your responsibility alone.

It is flat out amazing the mental gymnastics that people use to justify their shitty diets to themselves. For example, using food as a reward is a horrible trap to fall into. People smoke and drink to excess using the exact same addict logic; "I've had a rough day at work, I'm going to go binge a 3000 calorie app/meal/dessert", or smoke a pack of cigs, or drink half a fifth of whisky.

The thing is, nobody started out eating the 3000 calorie meal, the entire pack of cigs, or half a fifth of whisky. It started as a pack of Twinkies, one or two smokes, and a shot of whisky. But the portions get out of hand so easy, because it takes more to make you feel like you adequately "rewarded" yourself.

The end result of this is cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. at far too young of an age. I've watched friends die in their early 40s because of their need to "reward" themselves with too much food/drink/cigarettes. My wife's cousin just died of lung cancer. She was 45. 2-3 pack a day habit.

Food addiction is really no different than any other substance abuse, in my mind, and I *hate* it when people say, "Well, food addiction is worse than other addictions because you NEED to eat. You don't NEED to smoke or drink alcohol!". This is true. It's also true that you can also "eat" rat poison and accelerate your organ failure instead of slowly crushing them to death under your extra 200 lbs. of weight you're carrying around.

The absolute hardest thing to get overweight people to understand that there is no food that tastes as good as being thin feels.
 
B-but Bill Maher is always wrong and stupid!

And an image macro in which he vouches for, basically, hedonism as some kind of replacement for wisdom and enjoyment of the imagination is somehow disproving that notion?

Work in health care and tell me that a slow decline into obesity and immobility, capped off by a premature death, is in any way a good option.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying garbage. Just enjoy it sparingly. What the fuck happened to the notion that there is merit in moderation?
 
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